Existing technology for creating 3D animation uses character rigs manipulated in list views by animators. These character rigs generally include a skeleton attached to a 3D mesh with the skeletons having joints that can be manipulated to create motion. The joints are typically displayed in a listview and can be manipulated either individually or in a group. One method used by animators to view the dynamic progression of an animation is to use ghosting techniques. In this technique an animation is displayed at various timeframes whereby only an outline of the animated body is shown for each timeslot. Displaying successive onion skins gives the impression of motion to the viewer. Working with onion skins can be difficult, and particularly when working in a two-dimensional (2D) interface, where 3 spatial dimensions and time are being compressed into a 2D space. Existing onion skin tools are often limited in what they can show since most of the animations are close to each other and become very crowded. This technical problem of how to render and present 3D objects that change in time to users on a 2D interface (e.g., a display screen) becomes more acute in VR environments where list views are even more problematic since text is more difficult to read and the condensed nature of list views makes them hard to interact with within a natural user interface (NUI).
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.
In the description below, the term “module” refers broadly to software, hardware, or firmware (or any combination thereof) components. Modules are typically functional components that can generate useful data or other output using specified input(s). A module may or may not be self-contained. An application program (also called an “application”) may include one or more modules, or a module can include one or more application programs.